What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

January 31, 2013

What do you want to be when you grow up? Children hear this question so often, they have the answer memorized. But how accurately does this memory reflect their true calling? My youngest daughter, applying for colleges, declared that she wanted to heal people. However, getting a degree in nutritional science, she complained that I had steered her away from her true calling in a writing career by referring to her as "my little nurse" her entire life. Who would have thought that a term of endearment could become a dooming label?

When I was a child, my answer to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?” was: a singer, a dancer, a writer, a teacher, an interpreter, and a stewardess. Nevertheless, my mother thought reading was for the snobby rich people who had nothing better to do and, seeing me styling doll’s hair, decided I was a born hair stylist. Several decades later, my hair styling adventures have not gone beyond my nuclear family, nor is hair styling my favorite thing to do. As parents, we try our best to discover our children’s gifts and talents in order to advise them in their career choices, but there are so many. Also, there are practical things to consider. MCPL offers professional help in this matter through the Career and Education Guidance links in our Research Databases, accessible from the Online Resources page. My favorite is Ferguson's Career Guidance Center.

If you or your child have just a few months before graduation, or have a desire to "grow," it's time to take a peek at this valuable source.

Nellie E.
Lone Jack Branch